http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4683896.htmlImagine if evangelical Christians -- the loudest critics of granting civil marriage rights to gay Americans -- were the minority seeking such rights. Would it be OK to say about them what they say about gay Americans?
I categorically deny that I am anti-evangelical. I think evangelical Christians should be fully protected under the law and treated like everyone else. I think consenting evangelical adults should be able to do whatever they want behind closed doors. I think some evangelicals can be good parents, even if their families are less than ideal.
But they have gone too far. They demand the "right" to have their relationships and families deemed equal to my relationship and my family. That is a slap in the face to every mainstream American. It threatens the very fabric of our society.
Evangelicals baptize themselves in rivers and call themselves "born again," a practice rejected by every mainstream church. They claim to have conversations with God. Some call the pope Satan. They see demons. They say billions of people who are not "born again" will burn in hell. Many speak in tongues. How can people with such a strange lifestyle and such destructive beliefs expect the rest of us to honor their relationships and families? In America, as President Bush says, it is essential that we support and protect the ideal family. Is it ideal for children to be raised babbling gibberish and thinking that most people on earth are condemned to an eternity of pain and humiliation? I think not.
Evangelicals are a minority among mainstream Christians. Their lifestyle was unknown or condemned during most of the 2,000 years of Christian history. These people came to America because true believers in their homelands rejected them. Sure, we have tolerated them all these years, but now they ask too much.
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much more at link
This is wonderful. It really puts some of the odious arguments of the religious right in perspective. I wish I could write half as well as the author of this piece. It is totally wonderful.